Welcome to the Squadra di Vecchi Tori Blog

We are a group of ordinary bike riders who live in or around the suburb of Malvern, Melbourne, Australia and ride under the name ‘Squadra di Vecchi Tori’ (Team of Old Bulls). Why the name? Because Molteni and Gewiss were already taken and a few of our riders are involved in the beef industry. The rest of us like being associated with signs of virility.

In March 2010, 16 of our crew each rode 527ks in 24 hours during the annual Murray to Moyne cycling event held in Victoria. We raised over $60,000 for 2 charities close to the hearts of 2 of our riders – Learning for Life and The Unicorn Foundation. Links below.

You can also find us at www.twitter.com/m2m500.

This blog will document some of our rides, contain tips, commentary, banter and a distraction for all.

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Pidge and I grabbed the bikes last Friday evening and drove down to Macedon (45min) for a ride up Mt. Macedon in the morning. We made a mandatory stop at the Gisbone Pub for one or a few ‘Square Bears’ (Bundy and Coke for those who have yet to get on the Bundy band wagon) with the local boys … tough stickers and all. We hadn’t quite worked them out, but I sensed we knew what they were thinking … two blokes getting away to the country with a whole lot of cycling gear and drinking some fancy can out of the ‘back fridge’ … think ‘Brokeback Mountain’.

Feeling a bit wobbley

Anyway, any concerns I had quickly disipated. The locals were getting a little friendly, so Pidge and I finish our cans of liquid black gold, and staying true to our specific cycling diet, picked up our Chinese take-away (later discovered to be without order of special fried rice … hmmm).

2km of fun

Anyway, the ride was fantastic. Discovering how farking cold it was (-3 degrees) and that I had under packed wasn’t great, but the ride up and down Mt Macedon was. 13% gradient was a test, but the scenery was spectacular.

Up anyone?

We also did a couple of laps of Hanging Rock which was also pretty striking. We have fine turned the route and plan to get Team Toro out there for a tour and BBQ at Pidge’s shortly.